Welding co. owner faces fines, house arrest for diesel spill

The owner of a Charlton welding company could face a $75,000 fine and be ordered to issue a public apology in a newspaper after he pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act.

In June 2010 more than 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into wetlands near Charlton Welding & Repair Inc. at 11 Griffin Road in Charlton, run by Larry McKissick II, 43. Mr. McKissick was called to his business then and told there was a smell of diesel fuel. Valves on a storage tank were open and roughly 3,200 gallons of diesel fuel had been released from the tank, federal court records show.

Authorities said Mr. McKissick did not notify state, local or emergency response officials and instead began to wash off his property. Later that day residents in a condominium complex about a quarter-mile downstream from the business called Charlton police and fire departments to report a fuel smell.

Fire officials found fuel in the wetlands and traced the discharge to Mr. McKissick’s property, federal records show. Firefighters notified the state Department of Environmental Protection about the fuel and it was discovered that the ground, wetlands and a half-mile of the Cady Brook had been contaminated.

The cleanup took more than six months and cost the state Department of Environmental Protection roughly $683,000. Mr. McKissick was charged in federal court with violating the federal water pollution control act — negligent discharge of oil. In mid-2010 the state fire marshal cited Mr. McKissick for 13 fire code violations relating to the oil spill. The state also turned over the remaining cleanup work to Mr. McKissick.

A sentencing hearing in federal court is scheduled for Thursday, but a plea agreement has been reached that includes a $75,000 fine. If the plea agreement is accepted, Mr. McKissick would be placed on probation for a year and serve four months of home detention.

Paperwork filed by his attorney also states he would be ordered to have publicized — at his own expense — a public apology in a newspaper. That would have to come within two weeks of sentencing.

After the spill the state DEP ordered Mr. McKissick to hire a licensed professional to clean the contaminant from his property and test private wells in the area.

Fire officials also said Mr. McKissick did not have the permit to house a diesel fuel tanker.

Mr. McKissick’s lawyer contends in paperwork that his client took responsibility for his actions once contacted by Charlton authorities. Mr. McKissick also had no knowledge of how much diesel fuel was spilled after estimates were made later.